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Tamil Nadu
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Chennai
EARNEST LOT: Some autorickshaw drivers insist on charging by the meter, sometimes, to the surprise of the commuter. A row of tourist-friendly autorickshaws launched by the TTDC in Chennai recently. — CHENNAI: They are considered a rarity. A section of commuters even deem them extinct. However, there are a few autorickshaw drivers who charge as per the fare meter. . M. Kalimuthu is one of the 39 autorickshaw drivers who underwent training given by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation recently. His vehicle, a ‘tourist-friendly’ autorickshaw, is painted pale yellow (ivory shade) and has the meter smiling in bright red digital digits. “I have resolved to charge according to the meter,” he said. He happily took the Rs.28.50 that his digital meter indicated, for a trip from Hotel Taj Coromandel, Nungambakkam, to Simpson’s, Anna Salai. Even at one’s best bargaining skills, a commuter could not have convinced most other autorickshaw drivers to them that distance for anything less than Rs.50. Finding customers often means quite a tedious task for these autorickshaw drivers who acknowledge the meter. Mr. Kalimuthu said the moment he offered to switch on the meter, passengers got sceptical. “They don’t agree. They tell me ... ‘I know how your meter will charge. Just tell me how much you want.’” In fact, once a passenger who wanted to go from Ega theatre to Perambur bargained for Rs.100. Wary of his meter, she said she did not care how much the meter read, as she always paid Rs.100 for the distance. “She even stopped at a couple of shops on our way. But to her surprise, the meter showed Rs.43 and she was really shocked,” recalled Mr. Kalimuthu. Delighted at the meter charge, some passengers even insist on paying these drivers more than what the meter showed. S. Subbaiyyan, who drives an autorickshaw along Anna Salai, said they are often stereotyped and made out to be ruthless. “But ever since we decided to charge according to the meter, we have not accepted even a rupee extra,” he said. Mr. Kalimuthu and Mr. Subbaiyyan also make it a point to say “thank you” to their customer and “sorry”, when they say no to a customer. “We try our best to be pleasant and fair to passengers. But when they don’t trust us, it hurts,” Mr. Kalimuthu said. Commissioner of Tourism and Managing Director of TTDC M. Rajaram said the Corporation would train 40 autorickshaw drivers on July 14. They were chosen from Egmore in the city and Kanyakumari, he added. With regard to the erring autorickshaw drivers, the city police registered as many as one lakh cases against them since January this year. Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sunil Kumar said the charges included overloading, two persons on the driver’s seat and failure to use the meter.
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